When You're Gone
by TrustInFaith
Summary: They were made for each other, everyone thought they would last forever. They didn't think this would ever happen. One-shot


**Summary- They were made for each other, everyone thought they would last forever. They didnthink this would ever happen.**

 **A/N- I wrote this while listening to 'When I'm Gone' by Avril Lavigne. I hope you enjoy it.**

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

It was their usual date night, tonight it was at a hotel the _Holiday Inn_. It was all going great until a question was asked.

"Jayje why can't we be together?" Emily Prentiss asks softly sitting down on the bed next to the blonde woman.

JJ sighs and looks at her girlfriend, "Em you know why."

"Actually no I don't know why. We were together before you met him. You only got with him because we broke up." Emily growls out as she looks at the blonde with pained eyes.

"God you are so frustrating!" JJ yells looking at the brunette.

Emily rolls her eyes, "Whatever JJ, you can't be pissed off at me for wanting to actually be able to go places with you. But no, now you have to stay with Will for Henry."

"Why can't we just go on a date, and not fight anymore?" JJ asks trying to control her anger.

"Oh I don't know Jayje, maybe because we aren't _together_. The only people who knew about our relationship was our team!" The brunette yells standing up.

JJ stands up as well glaring at the brunette, "They only knew because you just had to be a bitch and out me!"

Emily takes a step back tears instantly filling her eyes, "No I didn't out you. You did that all on your own when you became jealous of my friendship with Derek."

With that said Emily starts grabbing her stuff, JJ watching her silently.

"If I have to share you with _him_ then we aren't truly together. It hurts Jay, I love you so much but you are choosing him." Emily whispers before heading to the door wiping her eyes. "I hope he makes you happy, because I guess I never did." she says before leaving the room.

"Em wait!" JJ cries running after the brunette, her heart breaking.

JJ ran towards the elevators only to watch the doors close with Emily behind them.

"I love you." JJ whispers brokenly before heading back to the hotel room, grabbing her stuff and checking out of the hotel.

Heading home to her empty house since Will still lives in New Orleans, and Henry is with Garcia for the night.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Emily throws her bag down and stares at the bed she had shared with JJ so many times, the bed where she had first realized her love for the blonde.

"Why did it have to be you?" She asks softly. "Why couldn't I love someone else?"

JJ had been there for her since day one, but in the end does that matter? The blonde chose Will over her. Just remembering the day JJ chose Will breaks her heart even more.

" _Do you love him?" the brunette had asked JJ while they stood behind a counter drinking water._

 _They had been in Miami for a case about a man confused about his sexuality do to abuse when he was younger. Will had shown up because a fellow officer on his team had also been murdered by this serial killer. Even though they had broken up with each other after the New Orleans case, when Emily noticed how JJ acted around Will, the brunette would always care._

" _I don't have time for any relationships." the blonde had replied, but just as Will started to leave she went after him and kissed him, unknowingly breaking Emily's heart once again._

Before Emily can ponder any longer her phone rings.

"Prentiss." She says quickly into the phone.

"Emily, it's Sean." A voice says over the line.

Emily pales at the sound of her old boss' name, "Sean McCallister. What can I do for you?" she asks calmly.

"Ian Doyle vanished from prison, Interpol can't find him. He's gone off the grid, Emily." He says knowing she won't like the information.

"Am I in danger?" Emily asks as she tries to calm down.

Sean takes a deep breath, "We all are."

The brunette slowly sits down on her bed. "What are we going to do?"

"For now we should just keep this quiet." He replies before hanging up.

Emily sighs and goes around her house, quickly maneuvering things around to alert her of anyone trying to get into her apartment before she takes a chair and places it in the hallway adjacent to the front door.

Once she is done she takes a quick shower before sitting in the chair her gun beside her the entire night.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Hey Princess, you okay?" Derek asks looking at his partner as she sits at her desk, staring at the same file she had been 'reading' for the past half hour.

"I'm fine." is her automatic response.

"Are you sure? Because you have been reading the same page in your file for the past ten minutes and it never takes you longer than two to finish a page." Morgan says worriedly.

Reid chooses that moment to jump in, "Actually it normally takes her 120 seconds on a good day any other time it takes her 140 seconds per page." he says smugly.

Looking up from the file Emily rolls her eyes at both of them, "I'm fine, just didn't sleep well last night. New neighbors."

Morgan gives her his boyish smile, "Just bang on the door yelling FBI. That should shut them right up." he says laughing.

"Morgan really?" Emily asks him laughing softly before looking back down at the file and reading the same page she was before.

Reid frowns slightly as he watches her for a moment. "If you were to do that, they would more than likely call the police and you would then have fun explaining to Hotch, and then it wouldn't just be Garcia having drug tests."

Emily just ignores him as she continues reading the same page, her mind further away as she thinks about what her former boss told her.

Just then a very colorful blonde storms by them, "We've got a case!" she cries out heading up to the conference room.

Emily stands up sitting the case file down and following after Garcia, leaving Reid and Morgan in the bullpen.

When everyone is sitting at the table Garcia speaks.

"Spin the wheel and it is sunny Los Angeles, people." She says while handing out the tablets.

Morgan looks up at her tilting his head to the side. "Two times in one year, huh? Remind me again why it's called the City of Angels." he says sending her a boyish grin.

"It was originally called the town of our lady the queen of the angels." Reid is quick to say before blushing at the looks he is given. "That was a rhetorical question, wasn't it?"

Emily tries to pay attention to what they are saying but her mind is going everywhere especially with the memory of what Sean told her. Doyle was out and she knew he would be coming for her.

"This is a weird one." Rossi says looking through the information that is on his tablet.

"As opposed to?" Ashley Seaver says looking at the Italian man.

Rossi chuckles and shakes his head at Ashley. "Ah, withhold your judgment, mon ami."

Garcia rolls her eyes before pulling images up on the screen. "Okay, three women, all abducted from different parts of the city and murdered within the last couple of weeks. Shelly Lueve, Vickie Hagerg, and Linda Dean." she says before pulling up more information while looking at the team. "All from different parts of the city, all different socioeconomic statuses. All three were held approximately 24 hours before being dumped in a public space." she pauses and looks at Rossi, "This _is_ a weird one."

"He's not hiding what he's doing." Rossi says as he flips through the images on his tablet "And here's one weird part." he says looking at the image of a woman that is distorted.

Morgan looks at the images before looking up at Garcia. "They all look like floaters."

"Mm-hmm." The tech analyst nods before speaking again. "All three women were drowned."

Emily finally catches up as she continues looking through the images. "Their bodies weren't found anywhere near water?" she asks looking up at the blonde.

"No, they weren't." Garcia replies, "They were drowned somewhere else and transported to the dumpsite."

"Garcia, you're right, this is weird." Hotch says clearing his throat, letting his eyes travel towards Emily in concern with how she is acting.

A light bulb goes off in Ashley's head."They weren't drowned in water."

"No water, just methanol." Garcia says in agreement.

"Methanol?" Reid questions slightly.

Nodding her head the blonde turns back to the screen. "Oh, but there's more." she says bring up the M.E.'s report. "Each woman had it in their lungs and were alive before they were put into the methanol."

"Drowning's a tough way to kill someone." Morgan says running a hand over his bald head.

Reid looks up quickly. "Slow. The unsub wants his victims to suffer, and he's got the space and privacy in which to do it."

Garcia bites her lip and brings up the next image. "And if you have yet to hit your daily allotment of skeeve before breakfast, each woman had an identical removal of flesh taken from the bottom of her right foot."

"Methanol and skin." Ashley says with a strange look on her face.

Emily looks up in disgust. "What the hell's he doing with them? Methanol is compositionally speaking the simplest of the alcohols."

"It's actually ubiquitous in the environment." Reid says before giving a slight smile before carrying on, "There are small traces of its vapor in the atmosphere, but atmospheric methanol is easily oxidized by sunlight." He paused slightly. "Ingesting ten milliliters of it will cause permanent blindness, and as little as 30 is potentially fatal."

"These victims had between five and six ounces in their lungs." Garcia continues looking at Reid with a slight roll of the eyes.

Reid nodded "You know, if they were immersed in it, they would have died even without ingesting or inhaling it." he flips through the pictures slightly.

Emily beats him to the next part. "When absorbed through the skin, it depresses the central nervous system to an unsustainable degree." she says quickly.

"Well, what's it used for?" Morgan asks looking between Emily and Reid.

"What isn't it used for? A solvent, an antifreeze. In World War II the Germans used it for rocket fuel." Reid says giving Emily a slight smirk.

"It's used in wine-making." Emily states glaring at the boy genius, "Its most commonplace use, however, is in the creation of other chemicals."

"Methanol can become plastic, plywood, paint, explosives, permanent-press textiles." Reid says giving Emily a bemused grin. "It's essentially the chemical used to separate other chemicals from each other."

"Can it be bought? Is it tracked?" Ashley asks.

"California's got some of the strictest environmental laws in the country." Emily is quick to say still glaring at Reid.

"I'm sure it's regulated." Hotch says as he looks between the two of them.

"Yeah, but methanol is also used in making biofuels, which quite a few people have been doing at home." Rossi says calmly

"I'd imagine the sale of it is fairly commonplace." Emily says looking away from Reid and towards Hotch, "But he needs enough in which to immerse a body."

Garcia sighs and looks at the team members again. "All the victims were nude, but there's no evidence of sexual assault on any of them. And the skin was removed from the bottom of the foot."

"Unless we're talking about a foot fetishist, you actually can't get further away from sexual areas." Reid says carefully.

Emily nods in agreement. "Yeah. Impotent sadists like Robert Napper typically take their frustration out on their victims. You'd think there'd be a lot more overkill." she pauses and looks up. "And what he's doing is very specific, very focused."

"What about the skin patches? Is this a trophy of some sort?" Morgan asks looking towards Rossi.

Rossi puts his hands up, "I have no idea."

"Skin, independent of any other substance, would wither and die rather quickly." Reid says.

"Well, that might be the thing that's forcing our unsub back out on the hunt." Ashley says calmly looking towards Reid with a sweet smile.

"Considering the wide divergence of abduction and dumpsites, this guy could be anywhere. L.A. is over 500 square miles." Emily says looking around the room at the team.

"Uh, 498.3." Reid corrects her.

Emily glares at him before continuing, "And the fact that no one has seen him either abduct or dispose says he knows the city and its patterns well."

Garcia finally looks at them, "One last thing, Leslie Marcs, a 28-year-old hostess at a bar, went missing two days ago." she says causing Hotch to stand up quickly.

"Alright everyone, wheels up in twenty." Hotch says firmly

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The team was on the jet back home, having quickly ended the search for the unsub thanks to both Emily and Reid.

"Do you think she's alright?" Morgan asks Reid referring to Emily who was sitting on the opposite end of the jet away from everyone.

Reid looked over at Emily before looking back at Morgan, "I don't know, I haven't seen her this," he paused for a second, "distant since her friend was killed by that priest."

"So I'm not the only one who has noticed my gumdrops distance?" Garcia asks from her spot across from Morgan and next to Ashley.

Reid shook his head slightly, "I think we have all noticed." he said as he glanced over to Emily again.

"When she went with Morgan and I to the last few crime scenes she was repeatedly checking her phone." Ashley says as she watches the brunette woman check her phone for the tenth time since they boarded the jet.

"And normally she hates her phone." Reid sighed slightly, "Maybe she is just having an off day?" he says kindly.

Garcia shakes her head, "I noticed this before we left for the case. I'm worried about her especially since I noticed the phone she has been using isn't even her real phone or her work phone." pausing she looks at the other three, "Its a burner phone."

Reid looks at her slightly wide eyed, "She's been biting her nails again. You don't think she could be pregnant?"

Morgan's eyes widen, "I haven't seen her look at anyone since Jayje and her ended things."

"That doesn't mean she isn't though. JJ had Henry remember." Reid said slightly confused

"Reid sweetie, Emily hasn't _looked_ at anyone who wasn't JJ or a woman since Will came into the picture and stole our blonde bombshell." Garcia says slowly.

Ashley shushes them when she notices Emily standing up and heading towards the little kitchen her phone immediately going to her ear.

"Could be JJ?" Reid whispers "Maybe they are still you know."

"It's not JJ, normally if JJ calls her Emily is all smiles." Morgan says watching as his partner begins biting her nails as she listens to whoever is on the other line.

"Maybe but if they are carrying on behind Will's back." Reid gives a weak smile "That could explain all the cloak and dagger."

Garcia shakes her head, "My gumdrop would never do that." she says quickly.

"I don't know she came into work one day with a hickey on her neck." Ashley says as they all try to discreetly watch the brunette.

"I never thought JJ would, you know, with Will but, she did." Reid says softly.

Morgan sighs, "I'm still pissed about that."

"Is there a reason you four are staring at Prentiss?" Hotch asks from his place across the aisle where he sits with Rossi talking about Jack.

"No reason." Reid says quickly.

Garcia just blurts out what she is thinking, "We think something is going on with Emily."

"I was leaning to maybe she's pregnant and doesn't know how to tell anyone, but these three disagree." Reid says as he shrugs his shoulders.

Ashley smiles, "I was leaning more towards she is in a secret relationship."

"What is going on with me is none of your business." Emily growls out as she walks past them and back towards her seat.

Reid swallows as they all settle down averting their eyes "Busted." he mutters quietly.

As soon as Emily is back in her seat Hotch leans over, "I'm going to go with pregnant." he mumbles.

Rossi chuckles quietly, "I think it has nothing to do with pregnancy or a secret relationship." he pauses, "I'm thinking more of a social problem."

Reid frowns slightly "She has a better social life than any of us."

"Not that kind of social problem Reid." The Italian man says shaking his head.

Garcia suddenly gets an idea, "Maybe I can ask JJ or just you know-"

"You are not going to go through her phone information." Hotch says firmly.

Garcia looks at him slightly hurt.

"She will tell us when she's ready babygirl" Morgan said kindly.

"But what if she doesn't? I've never seen her this distant. She won't even sit with us anymore." Garcia says sadly.

"Maybe see if she will speak to JJ?" Ashley says softly.

Garcia immediately pulls out her phone and sends a text to JJ. "I hope they are talking again."

Emily glances their way with a glare after checking her personal phone. "I said to drop it, and do not bring JJ into it dammit."

"Who said anything about bringing JJ into this?" Garcia asks quickly trying to appear innocent.

Emily rolls her eyes, "Next time you want to send a message to JJ make sure you don't click on the wrong name."

Morgan tries not to laugh at the look on Garcia's face, "We told you not to do it babygirl."

"Prepare for landing." The pilot is heard saying.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **A week later**_

Emily walks into the bullpen on the phone and sits down at her desk, "The team is starting to worry about me. How do I tell them that someone from my past is out to kill me?" she asks noting that nobody is around.

"You can't Emily," Tsia says softly. "Repeat after me Lauren Reynolds is dead"

Taking a deep breath, "Lauren Reynolds is dead. Lauren Reynolds is dead. Lauren Reyn-" she is cut off by Reid walking over.

"You died and we're all good." Tsia says softly

"I have to go. I'll ring you back later if I can." Emily says quickly before hanging up the phone.

"Who died?" Reid asks softly

Emily looks up at him quickly, "Um a friend I went to school with." she lies smoothly.

"Sorry to hear that, if you need to talk or anything." he says kindly, not really believing her.

"Thanks. Um we have a case?" She asks looking at him fully.

"Do we?" He asks looking at her in confusion.

Emily shrugs, "I think so. I mean where is everyone else?" she asks.

Reid looks around and notices him and Emily are in fact the only two there. "Huh, I have no idea."

"We have a case." Garcia says walking past them quickly and up to the conference room where everyone else is.

The brunette stands up and puts her phone in her pocket, "We should go see what the case is about."

Spencer nods and looks at her before they walk up to the conference room where the team is waiting for them.

Garcia stands at the front of the room, "Okay, in the past few days we've uncovered a few deaths that seem to be connected. The first we have is the Cosenza family, their deaths were made to look like a family suicide. Next we have Frank and Kerry Fagan who were murdered and then their deaths were made to look like a gas leak caused fire." she says showing the images of each death.

Emily tries to keep a straight face as she listens to them talking about the deaths of people she knew that helped her get rid of Doyle. It was a few days later after Byron Delaney, Sean McAllister, Jeremey Wolff and lastly Tsia Mosely were killed. After Tsia was killed Emily embarked on a mission to find Doyle only for things to go wrong and fast.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

It was then as JJ watched the casket being lowered into the ground that she realized her mistake. She never should have chosen Will, not over Emily.

"I miss you." The blonde whispers as tears stream down her cheeks.

Morgan walks up to her and pulls her to him. "We all miss her."

The rest of the team walks over and stands with them, when the gravestone was revealed they all broke down. Even the ever stoic Aaron Hotchner.

 _Emily Elizabeth Prentiss._

 _1970-2015_

 _Beloved Daughter, Friend, and Agent._

 _'Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.- William Jones.'_


End file.
